That hadn’t kept her from looking over her shoulder everywhere she went for a while. Even now, Ellie still got nervous every time she sorted through her mail.
“That isn’t all that surprising,” Van pointed out. “Perp probably got spooked by the cops always hanging around, and decided to split before he landed behind bars, too.”
“Agreed.” Ellie nodded. “But by then, the damage had already been done.”
Chase frowned. “Damage?”
“The nightmares. Constant paranoia. Mistrusting those I came into contact with.” She glanced down at her hands, only then realizing she’d been wringing them tightly together. Shoving them back down onto her lap, she cleared her throat and brought her big reveal to an end. “I couldn’t even date like a normal person, because the entire time I’d be out to dinner or drinks, I’d find myself sitting there, wondering if the man I’d agreed to go out with was really just a pawn in Harvey’s sick game.”
That was why she was still single. Why she only agreed to no-strings and casual.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to settle down and start a family. Or that she didn’t dream of finding a love like the one Cassie and Archer had found.
The truth was, Ellie wanted all those things and more. But as long as George Ray Harvey’s heart was still beating, she couldn’t risk letting her guard down enough to chase those dreams.
“That’s why you left the D.A.’s office,” Logan surmised. “Why you moved from Tacoma to Seattle.”
Sitting back in her chair, Ellie blew out a breath before responding the man’s statements.
“Yes,” she confirmed Logan’s assumptions. “I needed a fresh start, and Seattle is a large enough city, I figured it was as good a place as any.”
“And the switch to defense attorney?” Archer asked.
“Running my own practice, I can pick and choose my clients,” she explained. “Aside from Cassie’s, I only take on small cases, and I don’t represent anyone charged with a violent crime.”
Cass had been the one and only exception, but that was only because Ellie knew, without a doubt, that her friend was innocent.
“The lesser crimes, the less chance of having to deal with shitheads like Harvey.” Chase shot her an appreciative grin. “Makes sense.”
She’d certainly thought so.
“So where do we go from here?” she asked no one in particular.
“We’ll continue monitoring the FBI’s progress in locating Harvey,” Logan spoke up next. When Ellie opened her mouth to, once again, rebut the notion that Harvey was the shooter, he cut her off by adding, “Lucky’s already familiar with the layout of your apartment, so he’s agreed to stay on as your bodyguard. He’ll drive you to and from work, the grocery store…anywhere you need to go, he’ll take you.”
Seriously?
“Is that really necessary?”
“It is if you want to stay alive,” Lucky answered for the other man.
His response was blunt and to the point. Something she appreciated.
“Alive is definitely preferrable,” she muttered.
From the non-smiling expression on Lucky’s face, it seemed as if her attempt to be light-hearted had failed.
“Hannah’s getting the paperwork together now,” Logan told her. “It’s all standard stuff. Once that’s taken care of, Lucky can drive you home.”
“I need to work,” she countered. “I can’t let my clients suffer just because some idiot with a gun decided I’d make a good target.”
Having a constant shadow was one thing, but she couldn’t—shewouldn’t—let Harvey or anyone else, for that matter—send her running scared again.
No more running. Not ever again.
“I’ll take you to your office, instead,” Lucky agreed.
After fine-tuning their plan up to that point, Archer, Logan, Chase, and even Van said their goodbyes. She and Lucky let the room, as well, and the two began walking down the long hallway toward the security firm’s reception area.